Lievremont’s luck will run out

THE smiles may not have been evident on the Irish players as they trooped off the Stade de France pitch but they were far more prevalent among the Irish supporters who chose to travel to the French capital. While the players have every reason to feel disappointed, aspects of the performance will have countered some of the negativity that has surrounded the team in recent times.

In the confines of the team room on the eve of the match, Ronan O’Gara demanded honesty from all players on the field in an effort to regain the respect that this squad has enjoyed for a long time.

To be fair to the players, whatever they have lacked since the season began in September; their poor run of form could not be attributed to a lack of effort. In fact when things start to go wrong, the first reaction is to work harder on the training field which isn’t always the best solution.

While the team and management have much to review in order to identify how France were able to breach Ireland’s defence so easily in the opening 35 minutes, their character and refusal to drop the heads at any stage last Saturday was encouraging.

However, it is only a starting point and while O’Gara speaks of honesty on the field their also needs to be an honesty call off the paddock. While Ireland’s superior fitness, experience and ruthlessness in exposing the deficiencies that developed in the French makeup up front were key factors in their comeback, there must also be a recognition that the French contributed to their own problems.

Fledgling coach Marc Lievremont is living a charmed existence at present. While the French public are positively ecstatic with the Barbarian approach which has transformed their attacking game, they will certainly lose patience if he refuses to address a cavalier attitude towards the set piece.

The word in France is that Lievremont, in an effort to mend bridges with the clubs who suffered during the Laporte era, is attempting to reduce an overdependence on any one team. With their domestic championship continuing throughout the Six Nations the suggestion is that he will not deprive the clubs of key players to have them sitting on the bench.

In that respect had Jean-Baptiste Elissalde cried off with his suspect ankle injury prior to the Irish game, Pierre Mignoni would have been summoned from Clermont, despite the fact that Morgan Parra was a substitute.

Quite how long he will get away with adopting this policy remains to be seen, particularly with England next up in Paris. I will be amazed if he fails to introduce more experienced reinforcements for that contest, especially in the front row.

In reality the standard in this year’s Six Nations hasn’t been very good. South Africa, New Zealand and Argentina were the three best teams in the World Cup, despite the fact that England made it all the way to the final. Scotland have been a major disappointment so far given the quality of performance and results produced by Edinburgh and Glasgow this season.

Despite their two victories to date, Wales still have major shortcomings, a fact recognised by Warren Gatland and his management team. That is why he continues to adjust team selection with six changes announced yesterday for the Italian game.

The problem with the Welsh public is that with any molecule of success they tend to lose touch with reality. Gatland has done everything to dampen those expectations by correctly pointing out that it may take up to two years for them to develop into a consistently top class side.

After just two games the feelgood factor that resulted from England’s metamorphosis at the World Cup has already dissipated. Acknowledging that their momentum has been affected by a horrendous series of injuries, their inability to capitalise on promising first half performances in their opening games against Wales and Italy must be a cause of real concern for Brian Ashton. All of a sudden he is under the microscope once again.

The net result of all this is, despite the loss to France, Ireland are still very much alive in the race for Championship honours. What is required now is that the positive aspects from last Saturday’s performance are built on and taken a step further.

Scotland, with just one try in their last five internationals, are now almost solely reliant on the boot of Chris Paterson for registering any points. If the Irish public were somewhat apathetic in their approach to the Italy game, then they will travel to Croke Park on Saturday week with renewed enthusiasm, willing an Irish victory and a further improvement in performance.

The injection of new faces into the Irish 22 has had a positive effect and despite not making the World Cup squad only six months ago, Bernard Jackman, Jamie Heaslip, Rob Kearney, Mick O’Driscoll and Tony Buckley all made strong contributions in Paris.

Heaslip, in particular, looks very much at home in the international arena and Ireland now has two-thirds of their potential back row for the 2011 World Cup in place. That combination should come together over the next 18 months with Shane Jennings assuming the No. 7 jersey.

He will, however, have to recapture the form that made him such a force with Leicester over the last two seasons and will also have to bide his time as David Wallace still continues to make a significant impact. Wallace is still Ireland’s best ball-carrier although the load has been spread with the introduction of Jackman and Heaslip. If anything Wallace needs to be utilised more from broken play, trailing the likes of Brian O’Driscoll and O’Gara.

If some of the next generation are now beginning to find their feet in the senior squad, it was equally encouraging in the ‘A’ game against England in Welford Road to see Luke Fitzgerald looking so comfortable at outside centre against 2005 Lion, Ollie Smith. Fitzgerald has not played in midfield since his school days and while the majority of his representative rugby has been played on the wing to date, his long term future will be in midfield or at full-back.

The other player to catch the eye at Welford Road was 20-year-old loose-head Cian Healy. As a rugby player he was outstanding with a strong work ethic, good tackle count and immense strength in the contact area. He does however need time to develop his technique as a scrummager and one hopes he will be afforded that.

If the prop forward cupboard looked decidedly bare a few months ago, the emergence of Buckley and the challenge over the next few years for Marcus Horan’s No 1 jersey between Healy and Munster’s Darragh Hurley will be worth watching.